Posts tagged Fayum Oasis

A dust storm is affecting Egypt, blowing across the Fayum Oasis, near the left bank of the Nile River, and obscuring much of the Nile River Delta. With the exception of the Nile River Valley, Egypt’s land surface is a vast desert plateau covered in the sands of the Sahara Desert. Less than 3 percent of the country’s land is suitable for agriculture, and less than 1 percent is able to support permanent crops.

Clouds hang over the Mediterranean Sea, partially obscuring the view of the Nile Delta, in northern Egypt. The delta valley further to the south is visible, however, appearing as a bright green triangle of land. The city of Cairo can be observed near the tip of the triangular region.

The land along the banks of the Nile River is also green and vegetated, in contrast with the desert that covers most of the rest of the image. Another vegetated area of land is the Fayum Oasis, west of the river. Lake Moeris can be observed along the northern border of the oasis.

The northern section of the Nile River flows almost entirely through desert, from Sudan into Egypt. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile Valley north of Aswan. The valley can be observed here, appearing as a thick green band on either side of the river as it flows through the Sahara Desert.

The Nile ends in a large delta that empties into the Mediterranean Sea, which is partially visible at the top of the full image. The other green area at the top of the thumbnail image is the Faiyum Oasis, a depression or basin in the desert immediately to the west of the Nile south of Cairo. The extent of the basin area is estimated at between 490 mi² (1,270 km²) and 656 mi² (1700 km²). The basin floor comprises fields watered by a channel of the Nile, the Bahr Yussef, as it drains into a desert depression to the west of the Nile Valley.